When, as from time to time I have heard people say ‘we marched against the but they didn’t listen’ I think they are wrong. It is true that we have had to put up with a government that ignores the majority of the people when it matters most but over the last five years the mass mobilisations of people around the Stop the War coalition have acted as a beacon of hope for not just the people of Britain but for those opposed to the Bush/Blair project all over the world.

We have helped Iraqis and Afghanis, Palestinians and Iranians understand that we are different to our government. As although pictures like this one from Manchester last weekend rarely make the press in Britain and the US, they are a priority on the News agenda in the Middle East.

The demonstrations have also been a constant pressure on Tony Blair and the other war mongers in the corridors of power and it is clear to all that Blair’s resignation is because of his Pro War stance.

Demonstrations are not stand alone events. They give activists an oppotunity to talk and work together to build politically and to find a voice and an alternative to the limited choice we are so often offered from the mainstream. Blair will go but we will stay. The fight back has started. Long may it continue!

Labels: Stop the War